School-desk



(No Model.)

'0. A. MERRILL & A. D. LINN.

SCHOOL? DESK, &c.

No. 432,319. Patented July 15, 1890.

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UNITED STATES? PATENT, OFFICE.

CHARLES A. MERRILL AND ALLEN D. LINN, OF GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN.

SCHOOL-DESK, aw.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 432,319, dated July 15,1890.

Application filed October 3, 1889. Serial No. 325,844. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, CHARLES A. MERRILL and ALLEN D. LINN, citizens ofthe United States, residing at Grand Rapids, in the county Kent andState of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inSchool-Desks and Assembly-Seats; and We do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, suchas will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to makeand use the same. Our invention relates to improvements in school desksand seats, the primary object of which is to provide a seat and a backattached to the front of the desk, both of which are capable of beingmoved back out of the way when a pupil desires to stand. 1 To this endthe'invention consists in the combination, with the desk-standards, ofthe back-bars pivoted thereto, the locking-bars also pivoted thereto,the seat-supports pivoted to the outer or free ends of the back-bars andlocking-bars, and the plates or guards secured to the lower part of theback-bars for keep ing these working parts in their proper relativepositions. a

The invention further consists in an improved rolling desk-top and inimproved means for securing the wooden slats forming the back to theiron back-bars, all as will appear more fully hereinafter.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a view in perspective showingour invention, the seat and back being in their normalposition, or thatwhich they assume when occupied. Fig. 2 is a similar view showing theseat in its raised and the back in its rearward position. Fig. 3 is anelevation of one side of the desk, showing one back-bar, locking-bar,and seat-support with the guard removed. Fig. 4 is across-section ofoneof the back-bars, taken through one of its threaded enlargements,showing the means of attaching thereto the slats forming the back. Fig.5 is a perspective view of a section of the back-bar, showing a slightmodification. Fig. 6 is a plan view of the under side of one of theslats which form the back.

Referring now by letter to the drawings, A A are the desk standards orsupports, the sides of the desk being cast integral therewith.

B B are the back-bars, made of cast-iron, of the general form shown inFig. 3, the upper portion being curved slightly to fit the shape of theback. The back-bars are pivoted at their upper ends to the standards AA, and their front surface is provided with a tongue, as shown in Figs.at and 5, and at intervals along its length with the threaded circularenlargements b I). These threaded enlargements correspond in number withthe number of slats employed in making up the back, and project butslightly beyond the tongued portion of the back-bars. hVe prefer to makethese enlargements on both sides of the tongue, as shown in Fig. 4, theright-hand portion being provided with right hand threads and theleft-hand portion with lefthand threads. This is for a purpose that willappear later. They may, however, project on but one side of the tonguedportion of the back-bars, as shown in Fig. 5.

G C are what we term locking-bars or seat-braces. They are made of castmetal, curved slightly, and are pivoted at one end to the standards.

D D are the seat supports or brackets, with parts projecting outward,and upon themthe wooden seat is'secured and supported. These supportsare pivoted at the two points cl and d to the free ends of the back-barsand locking-bars and supported thereby.

E E are plates or guards secured to the lower part of the back-bars andoverlapping the locking-bars for retaining these parts in their properworking position. WVhen the seat is in its out-ward position, as shownin Figs. 1 and 3, the free ends of the back-bars B B are drawn outward,the locking-bars O O drawn upward, the upper face of the latter bearingagainst the under face of the former, and thereby securing or lookingthe seat in a substantially horizontal position. By raising the seat theouter or free ends of the locking-bars are depressed, and the back-barscarrying the back are forced backward out'of the way. In this manner bythe extremely simple construction just described we save nearly theentire space between the desks when the seats are unoccupied.

Another novel feature of our device is the rolling top, as shown inFig. 1. This is in the nature of a panel made up of a series of slatsstrung together, fitting the opening of the top frame and adapted toroll back, thus not obstructing the View in front. The frame is securedin the usual manner to the iron standards. An important advantagesecured by using this form of top is that only one style of casting isnecessary, whereas with the old forms two styles are necessary, one foropen and one for closed desks.

F F F are the slats which compose the back.

These are provided with grooves f f across their under side near theends, into which fit the tongues b Z) of the back-bars. These grooveshave an enlarged circular part which fits over the enlargements b b ofthe backbars. When itis desired to attach these slats to the back-bars,the enlarged portion of the grooves is slipped over one of theprojections b, the tongue fitting the grooves in the slats and forceddownward. 'By this action the enlarged portions of the tongues areforced into the grooves proper, the threads cutting their way into thewood. the right and left hand threads and of the single thread of theform shown in Fig. 5 is to draw the wood toward the iron. fastening anda tight fit are thereby obtained upon the back-bars.

Having now described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination, with the standards of The tendency of i A secure Aschool-desk having its writing-tablet made up of slats strung orotherwise flexibly connected together, pivoted at its rear end to thedesk and adapted to roll up out of the way, substantially as described.

4. The combination, with the standards and sides of a school-desk, of anopen top frame and a panel forming the writing-tablet, made up of aseries of slats strung or otherwise flexibly connected together, pivotedat its rear end to the top frame and adapted to fit the opening thereinand to roll up out of the way, substantially as described.

5. The combination, with the standards of a school-desk, of a pair ofiron back-bars, each having a tongue along its front edge, with circularenlargements having right and left hand threads projecting at intervalsfrom the sides of the tongue, and a series of slats, each having agroove on its under surface to fit the tongue and having a circularenlargement corresponding to that on the tongue, whereby when the slatsare forced downward the projecting threads on the tongue out into theinner surface of the grooves and the slats are securely held inposition.

6. The combination, wit-h the standards of a schoo1-desk,-of a pair ofiron back-bars, each having a tongue along its front edge, with threadedcircular enlargements projecting at intervals from one side of thetongue, and a series of slats, each having a groove on its under surfaceto fit the tongue and having a circular enlargement corresponding tothat on the tongue, whereby when the slats are forced downward theprojecting threads on the tongue out into the inner surface of thegrooves and the slats are held in position.

In testimony whereof we afiix our signatures in presence of twowitnesses.

CHAS. A. MERRILL. ALLEN D. LINN.

\Vitnesses:

HENRY J. FELKER, ALLEN B. LINN.

